Never-Ending Nightmare
by BeautifulEyes20122013
Summary: Craig undergoes a life-changing experience that leaves him a broken shell of a man. The arrival of a dear old friend helps him cope with the tragedy, but will it be enough to find life worth living again.
1. Chapter 1

Craig was giving what he hoped was a riveting speech to a scarily large crowd of people. The moment he had finished he had to resist running off the stage to his wife. Instead, he calmly exited the platform through the back. Backstage, she pulled him close and locked her lips onto his.

"You were amazing, sweetheart," said Ashley, beaming.

"You sure I didn't overdo it with the long speech?" Craig asked anxiously. "I mean, it was quite long and towards the end it was a bit weak—"

"No, everybody loved it," assured Ashley, and stopped him from saying anything further about his worries as she kissed him again.

After the award show was over, Craig and Ashley left the building, applause still ringing in their ears, and got into the car.

"After all these years I got a Grammy," said Craig as they drove down the street, unable to keep a smile off his face. Finally, his hard work had paid off.

"They should have given you that Grammy and long time ago," said Ashley.

"I'm glad I got it now," said Craig. "Better late than never! It feels like everything is just…impossibly perfect."

"I can't wait until I have your baby," said Ashley, rubbing her stomach.

"I know; all you talk about is my baby," Craig joked.

"I hope—whatever it is that I'm having—I hope it's just like you," said Ashley.

Craig smiled at her, pleased. "I am amazing," he kidded, then took her hand and added seriously, "but so are you. I want the best for both of us."

Craig slowed at the red lights until he eventually stopped, one hand still in Ashley's as he waited for the red to change to amber. It wouldn't have taken long. But it still wasn't fast enough.

There was the piercing, heart stopping sound of squealing tires as a car came spinning out of nowhere, handled drunkenly and terribly by a young man.

"CRAIG!" Ashley screamed in terror as the vehicle hurtled towards them. Three things happened all at once.

The light switched to amber. Craig instinctively threw himself over Ashley. The out of control car slammed into them, and there was the sound of scraping metal and shattering glass as the car jerked sideways, the world spinning as the car rolled.

He was too terrified to scream before he was plunged into darkness.

Craig slowly regained consciousness, his mind foggy. He opened his eyes and squinted in the gleaming white light. He turned his head and saw an unfamiliar woman—a doctor, he realized with a rush of fear—standing beside him with a clipboard.

"…What am I doing here?" he asked in a whisper. "Why am I…?" He trailed off. Did he really want to know?

"You were in a car accident tonight," she said simply and calmly. "It was a bad one, but you were very lucky. You'll be fine. There's no long-term damage." Images suddenly flashed before his eyes—the red orb of the traffic light, the silver car heading straight for them at a horrific speed. The sound of tires failing to brake in time, a crash…

A scream. Ashley.

"My wife," he said suddenly, more to himself than anyone else. He bolted upright despite the doctor's protests, fighting to keep down the contents of his stomach. "Where…where's Ashley? Our baby, you know about the baby, don't you? Where is she… Tell me…" His voice started to fail him as she put the clipboard down on the table next to the bed and sat on the bed next to him. Her eyes. The look in her eyes: pain, regret…pity. Craig knew what she was going to say, and shook his head.

"No," he begged, squeezing his eyes shut as though to block out the world. "No…no please don't…" But her voice still broke through his feeble barriers, the words stabbing into his heart.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Manning. Both your wife and baby didn't make it," she said gently. He didn't reply, and she asked in concern, "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"No," he whispered hoarsely. "They can't be. They must be alive…" He remembered the crash, Ashley's wide eyed fear. "I tried to protect her, I covered her…"

"Your car was hit on the driver's side," she said, still in a cool voice that was supposed to be calming. "You moved, so escaped the initial impact from the other vehicle. But the car rolled from the force and your wife sustained a severe head injury, as the passenger side hit the ground first when your car moved. That as well as the following movement and impacts… I'm sorry."

Craig started to shake his head frantically.

"No…..no….no…no…this isn't true…it can't be, my wife is still alive," he said. Her warm face, the love in her eyes when she looked at him. Them, together. Indestructible

The doctor stood, picked up her clipboard and read from it with a serious expression.

"Your wife was in surgery. We tried everything we could, but it wasn't enough. Your wife and baby didn't make it." She looked up at him. "They died; her heart gave out. I'm sorry."

First, he felt crushing pain and sadness. Then, slowly, he was filled with anger and he began to tremble.

"I'm so sorry," she said again. He didn't feel himself; it was like someone else had taken over. Someone desperate, someone who would give anything for his family to be alive.

"Stop saying sorry," he growled. She blinked at him.

"What?"

"This is a sick joke," he said in a trembling voice. "You're lying. You're lying to me."

"I'm not—"

"YOU'RE A FUCKING LIAR!" he roared at her. "THEY AREN'T DEAD! HOW CAN YOU TELL ME THEY ARE?"

"Please, calm yourself—"

"No, I won't be treated like this! I won a Grammy," he said feebly. "I'll call the police. You can't lie like that…YOU FUCKING LIAR!" He took a swipe at her in his rage, but she ducked and ran from the room, calling for assistance.

Wasting no time, Craig wrenched out his IV and got out of bed, stumbling a little. He staggered into the hallway, pushing aside his doctor and two nurses as they tried to stop him. He forced himself to run, ignoring the pain that shot through him as he moved. He had to be somewhere.

"ASHLEY!" he screamed, his voice echoing around the hallway. The few people around stared as he dashed past. The must think I'm a madman, he thought bitterly. They don't know they're lying, that they're sick…

"ASHLEY! ASHLEY!"

Suddenly he felt a hand grip his arm and halt him, and he found himself looking into the face of another interfering, corrupted sham of a doctor.

"You were in a severe accident, you need to return to your room or you'll do yourself further injury," he began, but Craig interrupted.

"I AM NOT GOING TO REST UNTIL I FIND ASHLEY!" he yelled, feeling tears stream down his face. "WHERE IS SHE? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER? WHERE IS SHE?"

Even through tear filled eyes he saw the sharp glint of the needle the doctor whipped out, and shoved him away.

"GET AWAY!" he screamed, and the nurses who had rushed over stared at him, looking horrified. The doctor advanced with the needle and— in a snap decision—he made a run for it.

His feet pounded against the gleaming white floor and he ran through the maze-like hospital with no sense of direction, just one need: Find Ashley. Look everywhere. Find her.

He was exhausted and tiring when he passed a door entitled "Relative's Room." He slowed as he registered what he'd seen through the door's small window, and he doubled back and looked in again, filling with dread.

Ashley's mother. She sat inside, her eyes red raw from crying. Her shoulders shook with sobs, and it was then that Craig finally knew the truth for certain. He couldn't deny it anymore.

Ashley's mother never cried.

Ashley was dead.

Craig's knees suddenly weakened and he dropped to the floor like a stone. A sob rose in his chest, and he broke down. Finally…he cried for her.

"ASHLEY!" he screamed, this time in heart breaking anguish. "NO!" He thought of their baby, dead before it even had the chance to live. "NO!" He screams burned within him and pierced the air, and he covered his own ears to block out the sound.

He was quickly found and sedated. The pain was numbed for a while until he woke again, unable to move and alone. He had nothing to think about but the truth.

And it was torture.

In a shadowy, dingy room in New York City, Craig lay sprawled on the sofa, surrounded by dirty clothes and dishes. His hand dangled beside an empty bottle of wine, and he jerked and almost knocked it over as a fist pounded against the front door.

"Go away," he mumbled. The person kept knocking, harder this time. "I said GO AWAY."

"Come on, man, open up," said Sean, his voice muffled by the door.

"I told you, LEAVE ME ALONE!" Craig pulled a pillow over his head, determined to be by himself.

"Fine. If you won't let me in, I'll get in myself!"

Sean quickly found Craig's poorly hidden back-up key outside the door on the small ledge above the doorframe. He shoved it in the lock and turned the handle.

The door swung open, revealing the mess of an apartment that looked as though it had been bombed.

"Damn, Craig, when did you last clean this place?" he asked, walking in and sidestepping a plate that seemed to be growing a new, dangerous looking kind of mould.

"What's the point?" Craig said lowly, the greying pillow still firmly clasped over his head.

"How about not having the whole building quarantined?" Sean asked sarcastically. Craig didn't say anything, and Sean stomped over, tugging the pillow away from him. "Right! You're going out tonight; I've had enough of your moping. You're no fun."

"I don't want to have no fun," said Craig, sitting up and glowering at him. Pain flickered across his face. "I can't without Ashley."

"It's been five years since she died," Sean said, trying to look sympathetic but unable to hide his irritation. "You need to move on."

"I can't just MOVE ON like she wasn't here!" Craig snapped.

"I understand you're hurting but if you keep this up you'll end up with her!"

"There's nothing wrong with how I live!" said Craig in vicious defense, tugging a half-empty beer bottle out from under the sofa cushion. Sean stared at him in disbelief as he chugged it down.

"So you aren't coming to the club tonight? Again?"

"No, I am not," Craig said, taking the bottle from his lips. "And I never will."

"All right, fine. But if you change your mind, here's the address." Sean dropped a business card onto the table beside the couch, and left.

After a few moments Craig got up and walked dodgily into his small, grotty bathroom. He stepped on something and, with a frown, bent down to pick it up. His heart stopped.

It was a baby toy. A little teddy bear that smiled blankly up at him. He had bought if for Ashley when she told him she was pregnant. He didn't know how it had ended up on the floor of the bathroom—it had probably happened when he was drunk and wild, but still not quite as detached from real life as he wanted to be.

Familiar anger and sorrow bolted through Craig and he lobbed his now empty beer bottle at the mirror carelessly. There was a smash and the mirror's frame shuddered, the glass shattering and clattering to the floor. He stared at the mix of mirroring and green glass glinting on the floor, then turned and went back to the couch, the white hot anger gone and replaced with a heavy feeling over his heart. He felt the little bear in his hand and stroked the soft fur with his thumb, closing his eyes but unable to prevent one small tear from leaking out.

Late the next morning he made one of his rare trips out into the city, dressed in a dirty shirt and shabby jeans. He got many disapproving looks from people in the street, directing at everything from his untidy hair to his mud stained, torn shoes. But he didn't particularly care. He hadn't really cared what people thought of him for a long while, good or bad.

He passed a young woman who hurriedly pulled her little girl closer as he went past, probably mistaking him for a mad homeless tramp. He sighed and went into the nearest store, deciding he should get a new shirt or something to mildly improve his appearance.

It had been a long, long time since the washing machine had worked. And even then he had no idea how to use it.

When he went to the counter to purchase his new shirt, a magazine caught his eye. Staring out at him from the cover was a man he hadn't seen in a long while.

Himself.

The enormous heading read: Craig Manning—Mystery Disappearance…Scandal?

He'd been in the news before, but this was new.

He snatched up the magazine and bought it along with his new shirt. It was a mark of how much he'd changed (and possibly how much grime covered his face) that the woman at the till didn't recognize him.

The moment he arrived back at his "palace" he opened the magazine and quickly read over what it said. He could barely concentrate on the whole article, but certain sentences jumped out at him:

"We all wondered why star Craig Manning vanished. Unable to cope with his wife's death? Tragically sad? Now we wonder if it was something more."

The entire article was nothing more than speculation, but it chilled Craig to the bone.

"…Was his bad driving responsible for the crash? It is confirmed that he was in fact in the driver's seat. We got in an expert to tell us more…"

"…A fellow singing sensation tells us how his relationship with the beautiful Ashley seemed frosty when she saw them. 'On reflection I never really saw them hug, only give each other a peck for the cameras.'…"

"…Of course Ashley was stunning, and we have to wonder if Craig had at first only wanted a fling. Did he leg it after the commitment to wife and baby was over?"

He could take no more. He leapt up and grabbed another bottle of Jack Daniel's alcohol from the kitchen, and drank it down steadily. Then another. Then another. Then another, until finally he collapsed to the floor, the printed, carefully constructed lies still whirling in his head.

Back in Toronto, Manny was sweating over designing clothes for the models, when her boss entered the room.

"Is this all you've done?" he asked, staring around disapprovingly. "We need these clothes for the fashion show today!"

"We are going as fast as we can," said Alicia, looking a little peeved.

"Look, you guys need to go faster; we have the most famous people in fashion industry coming here today," said David.

"If we do a good job, does it mean we will get a raise?" Monica asked hopefully.

"No, you're not going to get a raise, but your designs will be worn by the most famous, stunning people in New York City," said David triumphantly, basking in the happy glow of his job while the designers slaved around him. "Finish those sketches, and Manny, I need you in my office." David gave her a sideways glance and then left the room.

"I wonder what he wants to see you about," said Monica worriedly.

"Whatever it is, I bet it's not good," said Alicia.

"Make sure you beg a lot when you go into his office. That might get him to let you kept your job," advised Christina. She paused. "Maybe."

Manny got up from the table and went over to the door hesitantly.

"I'm sure he doesn't want to fire me," she said lightly, then let a sigh out and went to his office.

"You wanted to see me about something," she said as she entered, closing the door behind her.

David got up from his chair and went over to his windows. He closed the blinds. Then he walked past her and locked the door.

He went over to Manny and grabbed her by her arms tightly and—before she could protest—slammed his lips against hers, kissing her passionately. She struggled, and he pulled away reluctantly, staring at her intently.

"M…Mr. Boss, this is not the place or time to be doing this," gasped Manny.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it. I need you," said David.

"I…but…what about the other girls out there? Don't you think they'll hear something?" Manny said, thinking fast. David smiled.

"Don't worry about them. I need you. Now." She was rooted to the spot as David kissed her neck, gently and tauntingly. She sighed.

"All right. Just this one time," relented Manny. She jumped as David quickly shoved everything off his desk and hauled her up on top of it. He began to kiss her again, and Manny didn't see fireworks or have feelings of excitement or passion.

I can't believe I'm doing this here, she thought, feeling herself blush as he started to get out of his clothes.

Afterwards, Manny lay on the desk, gasping for air.

"Wow! That is what I call a good lunch break," she said, admitting to herself that perhaps she had been mistaken about it being wrong. It had certainly seemed right.

"Yeah. It was amazing," David said, a pleased grin on his face.

"I'm glad we did it," said Manny simply, then got up and dressed, David following suit.

"Now, remember we're having lunch with my parents tonight," Manny reminded him firmly. "Right?"

"Uh…yeah, I remember. Don't worry, I'll be there," said David.

Manny kissed him on the lips gratefully, and David held the door open for her as she left the office and returned to the other girls.

* * *

Thanks for reading.

Reviews my story please. :)

I loved to read reviews on my story and reviews are really appreciated,

Credit Goes To Arwen Thandiel and demetrifever123


	2. Chapter 2

Craig was strolling down the street in New York City when he passed by an inviting looking restaurant and decided to stop for a bit and rest. He pushed his way through the heavy glass door, nodded to the waitress on staff and settled himself into a booth with a view of the bustling street. It certainly wasn't one of the higher-end eateries NYC had to offer but the atmosphere was cozy, and most importantly, the restaurant didn't appear to be busy at the moment. Just what Craig needed to sooth his frazzled nerves and silence his depressing thoughts, if only for a moment.

The waitress made her way to his table and places a menu down on the Formica top with a loud _slap_. Craig smirked at her less-than-warm reception and revisited his earlier evaluation of the restaurant as "inviting".

"What do ya' want?" she asked, her Brooklyn accent making her impatience clear.

"Can I have a cup of coffee with cream and sugar," he said, doing his best not to aggravate her disagreeable mood.

"Anything else you want with that, hun?" she asked, writing the order down on her notepad. Craig doubted she needed the note for just one item and it made him wonder what she might be writing instead. Did she just doodle on the notepad to make it look "official?"

"No thanks, just the coffee, please." he said. She seemed pleased with how little effort his order would take.

"Alright, your coffee will be here in a minute," she said.

The waitress walked away, her low heels clacking loudly on the tile floor. She placed the carafe in the coffee machine and set it to brew before disappearing into the back, presumably to the kitchen.

Craig was sitting at the table with his sunglasses on when a woman and a child shuffled into the restaurant. They quickly scanned the empty eatery before sitting down in another booth. A few minutes later, the waitress returned and placed the coffee, a cup of cream and a small bowl of sugar on Craig's table.

"Thank you," said Craig.

"No problem, hun." said the waitress, already walking away, ignoring the new customers.

Craig poured the cream and sugar into his coffee and stirred it around, allowing the monotonous action to clear his mind for a he could stir no more and Craig carefully placed the spoon on the table before picking up the coffee. He drank it cautiously, and could only roll his eyes when he tasted burnt coffee and souring cream. Of course! Just when Craig was about to give up and head back out to the busy New York streets, the woman got up from her booth and walked over to Craig's table.

"Excuse me," the woman asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Can you spare some change so I can make a telephone call?"

Craig put down his cup of coffee and looked up at the woman. Change? Were there actually functional payphones still in existence? Apparently so, as he then noticed one tucked into the corner of the restaurant.

"What do you need the changed for?" he asked while reaching into his pocket.

"I need some money for me and my daughter so we can get a ride back home," she said, still so quiet. Craig wondered for a moment at what she was so afraid of.

Just then, her daughter came running up to her and wrapped her arms around her mother's 's watched at the woman with her daughter and started to think about Ashley.

"Alright I can give you the change," said went into his pocket and took out 4 quarters, handing them over.

"Thank you, sir" said the woman, gratitude infusing her whisper. No one should be so grateful for some quarters, he mused.

"No problem," he said, keeping his thoughts to himself and instead, drinking some more burnt, sour coffee.

The woman smiled timidly, before walking away from his table. She went back over to the telephone, put the money in the slot and dialed the number. Craig wondered if it was a rotary phone or did it at least have buttons? While her mother was in the phone booth, the little girl skipped back over to Craig's table and stood next to him, curiosity in her wide-eyed gaze.

"Do you like my dolly?" she asked, showing it to him with a full smile displaying a missing front tooth.

"Yes, I do like it," he said, chuckling at her easy joy.

"My dolly's name is Melissa. Don't you think she is pretty?" the little girl pushed. Clearly, there was only one way to answer...

"Yes, she is very pretty," Craig said and laughed when the little girl squealed with delight at his easily won compliment.

After the woman hung up the phone, she followed the sound of her daughter's laughter back over to Craig's table.

"Honey! You shouldn't bother this man," she admonished, smiling wanly to Craig and steering her bouncing child away from Craig by her bony shoulders.

"I'm sorry momma," she said, looking up at her mother with a pout.

"No no, Ma'am, it's alright, Craig interrupted. "She wasn't bothering me at all." He took a moment to consider before asking, "What is your name?"

"Diane Jones," she said holding out her hand. He shook the woman's hand, noting but not commenting on the slight tremble.

"It's nice to meet you," he said while smiling at Diane's daughter. The little girl smiled back and lifted her doll's hand to wave back at Craig, prompting another chuckle from him and a giggle from her.

"You can sit here with me," he said, gesturing to the other side of the booth. Diane hesitated a moment before nodding, whispering her thanks before lifting her daughter and placing her on the far side of the plastic covered seat. Diane settled directly across from Craig, folding her hands in front of her and gazing shyly at the tabletop.

"Where do you live?" he asked, cutting through the awkward silence that had quickly descended over the table.

"I used to live California," she whispered, a wishful tone to her voice. Again, Craig chose not to outwardly question her obvious distress.

"My wife and I were living in California at one time," he offered. "It was a beautiful state to live in." Those same depressing thoughts threatened to overwhelm him for a moment as images of Ashley pushed at the edges of his mind. Not now, he silently begged.

"Me and my daughter are going back to California. We have my family there," she said. Diane's statement seemed clear though the way she said it made Craig think she wasn't quite sure they'd make it to California. Why? He wondered. What would stop them?

"Nobody will find us in California, will they Momma?" her daughter asked, eyes turned up in hope toward her mother. What an odd question for a child. Who were they hiding from?

"No they won't, sweetheart," said Diane, another wistful whisper. Craig's concern grew.

"What is your daughter's name?" asked Craig, suddenly realizing he knew her doll's name but not name of the delightful little girl.

"Her name is Christina," Diane said, tugging her daughter tightly into her side and smiling a mother's smile.

"That is a beautiful name," said Craig.

"Momma named me after grandma!" Christina declared, proudly.

Just then, another car pulled up in front of the restaurant, and a gruff looking man got out before slamming the door and heading toward the entrance of the tiny restaurant. He shoved the door open with unnecessary force, causing the door to bounce off the adjoining wall. He quickly scanned the empty diner before settling his eyes on Craig, Diane and little Christina. The scowl on his face deepened, and alarm raced through Craig as the man stalked his way over to the table where they were all sitting.

"Come on. We're going home," he stated, with no invitation for discussion. Craig wondered again about Diane's trembling and Christina's wish to hide in California. Is this who they're hiding from? If so, why did Diane call him for a ride? None of this was making any sense.

"Alright, I'll be there is a minute," Diane replied, defeat engulfing her quiet tone. The man stomped away from booth and stood near the front door, glowering at the three of them and then settling on staring daggers at Craig.

"Well," Diane announced, her voice brimming with false cheer. "It's time for us to go! It was nice talking to you," she said. This isn't right, Craig thought. Something is very wrong here. But again, he swallowed his concern and instead bid Diane and Christina a good day.

"Nice meeting you, as well." said Craig, waving to Christina as she gazed at him with wide eyes.

Diane shook his hand and got up from the table. She grabbed her daughter's hand and walked quickly over to the man standing near the front door. Some quiet but fierce words were exchanged before they all went out the door; Diane's head was hung low and Christina kept glancing nervously back at Craig. He watched them all get into the man's car before turning his attention back to his burnt coffee pretending not to notice the tightening in his chest when he heard an engine roar and tires squeal, announcing the girls' departure.

Back in Toronto, Manny sat in a restaurant with her parents, impatience and frustration radiating from her body.

"When is your boyfriend going to be here?" asked her Mom, noting her daughter's distress.

"Pretty soon," she mumbled, clearly not believing what she was saying.

Manny shoved her hand into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed her boyfriends' number with fingers shaking in anger. The phone rang for a while before his voice message came on. Manny sighed, running her fingers through her hair rolling her eyes up toward the ceiling. Anything was better than looking at the disappointment faces of her parents.

"Hey, it's me. Can you hurry up and come to the restaurant, please. My parents and I have been waiting here for hours," she said, trying to keep her voice calm, even if the rest of her was anything but. "If you are not too busy with work, it would be great if you come here right now," she continued, sarcasm creeping into the statement.

Manny closed the phone and shoved it roughly into her pocket.

"I don't understand why you are dealing with this guy," her Mom said, concern and disapproval clear in her statement.

"Mom! I told you why I am dating him a thousand times. He is a sweet and wonderful guy," said Manny not sure who she was trying to convince anymore.

"If he's so wonderful, then why is he not here to meet your parents?" asked her Dad. The accusing tone in his voice shouldn't have surprised her, but it still hurt all the same.

"Because he's busy with work," she mumbled, knowing the excuse sounded just as weak coming from her as it did from him.

Her father didn't say anything in return and instead continued eating, making his disapproval known through his irritated movements. Just when she couldn't take the tension anymore, Manny's cell phone started to ring. Her hand dove into her pocket, pulling out the phone and she opened it up to answer.

"Hello? David, where are you?" she asked, her voice betraying her hope that he might be close

"I am sorry baby, but I can't make it to meet your parents. I'm busy with work," said David. While the words were conciliatory, his tone was clearly distracted revealing that he didn't really mean what he said.

"I told you about us meeting my parents and long time ago," said Manny, frustration and sadness warring in her mind.

"I know you told me about it before but I am sorry. I can't make it," he said, his stern statement let her know he was not interested in being chastised. "Tell them I'm sorry but I'll meet them next time," said David. There was finality in his voice and Manny felt herself deflate.

Manny hung up the phone.

"What did he say?" asked her mother, tentative and resigned at the same time.

"He told me he's not going to be able to make it," said Manny, finally saying out loud what they already knew.

"Oh Manny, I'm sorry. I know you wanted for us to meet your new boyfriend," said her mother. Her face held the helpless look of a mother whose child was hurting and there was nothing to be done for it.

"It is alright. Maybe next time you'll get to meet him," said Manny, false hope forcing a smile to her lips, and if she couldn't meet their pitying eyes, neither said anything about it.

Back in New York City, Craig finished his burnt coffee, took the money out of his pocket, and tossed the tab and a tip on the table. The waitress was nowhere to be found so he made his way to the front door and out onto the street. After taking a moment to consider his options,Craig's decided to go to a music store. It was a short trek to the closest one and he smile to himself as he entered, letting the sound envelop him.

The moment was interrupted when a kid burst through the door behind him, knocking into his shoulder and not even bothering with an apology before rushing over to the heavy metal section. Craig quickly made the choice to stay away from the little brat and made his way over to the rock/pop music selection. He shuffled through all of the colorful albums until he found just what he was looking for.

Craig paid for the album he wanted before leaving the store and made his way back to his apartment. He went over to the stereo, placing the CD into the tray and pushed the play button. He sat down on the couch, listening to the music wash over his senses and finally allowed himself to think about the time he and Ashley spent together, making that very song.

Craig closed his eyes and imagined him and Ashley together in the studio, working on that song for hours, just to make sure it was perfect. After they'd finally finished the song, he took his wife out to the one of most famous restaurants in New York City to celebrate. Coming back to himself after the song drew to a close; he looked at the back cover of the album and read:

_This album is dedicated to my beautiful wife, Ashley Kerwin,_

_whom I love with all my heart._

A glittering tear made its way down Craig's face as he was forcefully struck with the realization that he would never be able to touch her, kiss her, or tell her how much he loved her, ever again. Craig went into the kitchen, opening up the cabinet and pulling down a bottle of whiskey. He pried open the bottle, sad down on the floor and drank in the smooth liquor, desperately trying to drown the pain.

In Toronto, David was working in his office when Manny knocked on his door.

"You don't look too busy to me," she said, accusation clear in her voice and not even bothering with a hello.

"Manny, I'm sorry I couldn't come see your parents tonight," said David. Again the words were right but the tone was all wrong.

"Well you sure made me look like a fucking fool! We waited for you to show up for four hours and you never did." she declared, anger finally bubbling over.

"I promise, _next time_. Now, can you please just let me finish this work?" he asked. David was clearly not interested in the conversation and had already turned back to his computer and the fashion show mock-ups.

"I LET YOU FUCK ME IN YOUR OFFICE LAST WEEK AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO TO PROVE TO ME HOW MUCH YOU CARE ABOUT ME," Manny screamed.

David calmly put down his paper work and looks up at Manny, ice in his eyes.

"I told you, I'll meet your parents next time. What else do you want from me?" said David. His tone was condescending and only served enraged Manny further.

"I WANTED YOU TO BE THERE TONIGHT! INSTEAD, YOU'RE HERE, WORRYING ABOUT THIS GODDAMN FASHION SHOW," she yelled, hysterical at his seeming indifference to the pain and embarrassment he'd caused her that night.

"MY JOB IS IMPORTANT TO ME!" he yelled back, cool façade finally breaking for a moment.

"IT WAS ONLY ONE NIGHT! YOU COULD"VE PUT YOUR JOB ON HOLD FOR ONE NIGHT TO COME MEET MY PARENTS," she continued, uncaring of the fact that her yelling echoed down the hallways of David's office.

"I DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE A CHANCE LIKE THAT. WHAT IF I FALL BEHIND?" said David he cried, exacerbated that she couldn't see how important this project was for him. Dinner with the parents was not as important as this show. She needed to understand that.

"You were sure willing to take that chance when you had _sex_ with me in your office, _knowing_ somebody could have come in and seen us. How would that have gone over for your precious fashion show?" said Manny, her tone vicious.

"That was a different story," David replied, cooling considerably at her implication.

"I SEE! WHAT I AM TO YOU NOW? AM I JUST SOME GIRL YOU WANT TO FUCK AND THAT'S IT?" she screamed, furious at the suggestion that she wasn't important.

"YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST SOME WOMAN I HAVE SEX WITH," David roared, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

"I don't _believe_ you," Manny hissed.

"I SAID I WAS SORRY FOR NOT MEETING YOUR PARENTS, BUT COME _ON_! DID YOU REALLY THINK I WAS GOING TO LEAVE MY JOB JUST TO SEE YOUR PARENTS TONIGHT?" said David, his voice belaying his shock that she might think something so stupid."I told you when we first started dating that I care about my job more than anything, AND NOBODY IS GOING TO GET IN THE WAY!"

"SINCE YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR JOB MORE THEN ME I DON'T THINK I SHOULD BE GOING OUT WITH YOU," Manny declared, crossing her arms and making her way toward the door.

David jumped up from his desk and charged over to roughly grabbed her arm and stared into her in the eyes, rage and desperation warring in his.

"You are not breaking up with me," he growled.

"I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT," she screamed back in his face, equal parts terrified and incensed that he would manhandle her like that. Who the fuck did he _think_ he was?

"If you break up with me, I will make sure that you never work in the fashion industry ever again," he threatened."Now, why don't you be a good little girlfriend and go home and forget about this," tone taking on that imperious lit once again.

Manny yanked her arm out of his grasp and growled back, voice climbing back to a shrill yell by the end, "Fuck you! I AM NOT YOUR ROBOT."

She was about to walk out of the office when David grabbed her arm again. His grip was painful and Manny was sure she'd have a hand-shaped bruise in the morning.

"YOU ARE GOING TO DO WHAT I SAY!" A red mist was creeping over his vision. How dare this little bitch try to leave him! She was nothing without him!

Manny twisted her arm loose from David's grip once more and promptly slapped him across the face. The sound echoed in the suddenly silent room, both occupants shocked at what she'd done. But, David was the first to move, touching his face as a dark smile graced his crowded Manny up against the office door and looked into her warning, David slapped her in her face, snapping her head to the side with the force of the blow.

"Now get the fuck out of my office," said David quietly, before stepping back and making his way back to his desk as if nothing had happened.

Manny left his office and ran down the stairs barely able to stop her body from shaking with adrenaline and fear. Once she was outside, she made her way over to her car and stood there for a moment as the shock wore off.

And then she started to cry.

At nighttime in New York City, Craig was walking down the street, singing the song that he and Ashley wrote together when he suddenly stopped, hearing and man and a woman fighting.

"I told you to never try to leave me again," he man growled, grabbing her roughly by the arm.

"I'm sorry!" she cried" I didn't mean to, I just couldn't take it anymore."

The desperate voice sounded familiar to Craig but he couldn't place it. Anger bubbled up in his chest. He would give anything to have Ashley back, even for just a moment and here was this _asshole_, treating his girl as if she meant nothing; as if losing her meant _nothing_.

"What can you not take? I do _everything_ for you!" he roared. "You're just a selfish bitch," he declared.

The man reached back and struck her hard. The woman fell to the ground sobbing and clutching her cheek. Craig rushed over to the scene, and grabbed the man's shoulder, turning him around and punched him in the face. The man went down hard and didn't try to get up. Craig knelt down to check on the woman.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" he asked while reaching out and checking for more injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered with her head hanging down.

"You don't look fine to me," he said in an attempt to reassure her that he wasn't going to hurt her, that he was there to protect her.

Craig lifted the woman's head up and gasped as recognized her face.

"Diane!" he said, shocked. "The guy at the restaurant…" she said but stopped with a hiss, pressing her fingers to her lip. It was bleeding.

Just then, the other man got up from the ground and came up behind Craig.

"Who is this Diane? Another one of your fucking boyfriends," he accused.

"No! He's just a friend," she protested, recoiling from him.

Craig stood up and turned to face Diane's attacker.

"I think you should leave this woman alone," he announced, threat clear in his voice.

"HOW THE SHIT ARE _YOU_ GOING TO TELL ME TO LEAVE MY WIFE ALONE," the man roared, incensed at Craig's seemingly random interference.

"You should be a better husband and not hit your wife like this," Craig admonished.

"I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT TO DO AND YOU CAN'T DO SHIT TO STOP ME," the man countered, rage slurring his words together.

The man walked over to his wife and grabbed her by her arms.

"Ow! You are hurting me," she cried.

The man was clearly going to hit the woman again when Craig struck first, hitting the man in the back and pushing him to the ground.

"Diane! Run away! NOW GO!" Craig ordered.

Diane ran across the street and away from her husband and Craig.

"I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR MOTHERFUCKIN' ASS! AND WHEN I AM FINISHED, I'M GOING TO BEAT THAT BITCH OF A WIFE TOO!" the man raged, a sick grin on his face.

He tried to hit Craig but missed as Craig ducked out of the way. Craig punched the man in the stomach before grabbing him by his arm, delivering a powerful blow to the face. Craig shoved him to the ground. The other man touched his mouth with his fingertips and felt the blood in his mouth. The man took the moment of pause to attack and started punching Craig in the face.

The man rained blow after blow down on Craig before he was able to block the man's attack and started to punch him back. Craig kept hitting him, over and over, letting rage and despair cloud his mind. The man tried to block Craig's vicious attack but he couldn't. Craig landed a punch powerful enough to send the man flying back into the display window of the store behind him.

The window shattered on impact, raining glass everywhere. The man just laid on the ground, body half in and half out of the display window. He wasn't moving and the alarm to the store was blaring. Craig just stood there, frozen, looking in shock at what he'd done.

* * *

_Read and Review I would love to heard what you think about my story please. :)_

_Credit Goes To Arwen Thandiel_


	3. Chapter 3

Craig stepped inside his apartment and walked into his bedroom. He slid open the closet door, removed a suitcase, and unzipped it, tossing it onto the floor beside him. He filled the bag with as many t-shirts and jeans it could hold before, slinging the strap over his shoulder in pursuit of the living room. He walked past the couch and over to the entertainment center, reaching inside his boom box to take out the CD that he and Ashley made together.

He went into the kitchen next, swung open a cabinet and grabbed two bottles of Jack Daniels. Then Craig went back into his bedroom.

Craig carefully placed the alcohol inside the bag, making sure not to crush his CD. He popped into the bathroom for a quick second, slipping a handful of pills into his pocket before he continued gathering the remaining items he still needed. He went over to the dresser next to his bed, taking a picture of him and Ashley and shoving it into the bag. He also opened the dresser and stuffed a small box in his other pocket. Then Craig went into the closet in the bedroom and took out a box and put it into the bag.

Afterwards, he returned to the living room once more.

He picked up the teddy bear that he'd bought for Ashley, tucked it under his arm, and grabbed his keys. He checked to make sure his bag was zipped all the way, switched off his lift, and exited his apartment, locking the door.

Craig ambled over to his car, opened the door, and put his suitcase into the back seat before climbing into the front and shutting the door.

He turned the key in the ignition, pulled out of the parking space and merged onto the street.

Craig continued driving, turning onto the highway, miles and miles of road passing behind him. When he noticed a sign that read, _"Now Leaving New York City,"_ he smiled quietly to himself. Hewas doing it; he was getting out of there.

-::-

In Toronto, Manny and her co-workers were attending a fashion show in which every model was sporting new clothes made by all the latest designers have made.

Manny took her seat, completely horrified at each and every one of the models that walked down the run away. The clothes. The hair. The makeup. Everything about them was putrid.

Just then Manny's co-worker, Christina came and sat down next to her.

"So, what did I miss?" She asked.

"Nothing much, just some ugly ass dresses," Manny replied.

"I know that when we have our fashion show, it's going to be so much better then this."

"Definitely, because none of our clothes will look like they were made in 1980's."

Just then the announcer appeared and took his spot behind the microphone.

Everybody in the audience started clapping and cheering.

"Thanks again for coming to the Toronto fashion show. I hope to see you again next year!" The announcer smiled cheerily in the midst of all the audience's enthusiasm. A few moments later he waved goodbye, leaving the stage.

Everyone in the crowd soon followed suit, standing up from their seats, as they made their way out of the area and toward the nearby exits. Among them were Manny and Christina.

"_I can't wait until we have our fashion show in New York City!"_Manny exclaimed.

Christina chuckled. "Yeah, I know, it's going to be awesome!"

"I already have the designs I want to make in my head. All I have to do now is make them," Manny sighed dreamily, anticipation coursing through her veins. She and Christina climbed into her car together and shut the revved up the engine, placed her foot on the gas pedal, and sped down the street.

-::-

Craig drove down the road, stopped, and turned into the gas station.

He got out of his car, shut the door, and went into the walked around the store until he reached the refrigerator and took out a bottle of orange Craig went over to the cashier and put the orange juice on the counter.

"Can I get $7.00 dollars worth of gas on the pump next to the right?" He asked.

"Of course, sir." The cashier replied.

Craig removed $7.00 dollars from his pocket and gave it to the cashier. The man behind the counter rang him up for what he'd asked for.

"Oh, and how much is this orange juice, by the way?" He suddenly remembered. The cashier took the small bottle and rang that up too.

"$10.85."

Craig then paid for the orange juice and the cashier gave him the change he owed him. Craig thanked the cashier and told him to "have a nice day," before returning to his car.

He went over to his car, approached the gas pump, took it out, and placed its nozzle into the tank.

After the car was done filling up, Craig carefully detached the nozzle from the tank, putting it back into machine. He opened his car door and climbed inside.

Craig reached into the back seat and pulled the suitcase onto his lap, removing some of its contents until he found what he wanted. He took out the bottle of Jack Daniels, unscrewed the cap, and mixed the amber liquid with the bottle of orange juice he'd just purchased. He took a long, hearty swig, twisting the cap back onto the bottle once he was satisfied, hoping no one had seen him. Then Craig started his car, drove out of the gas station, and down the road.

-::-

Back in Toronto, Manny lay half-asleep on her bed. Her eyes began to droop closed, but before she could drift away into dreamland, the sound of her telephone ringing snapped her back to reality. A little annoyed at the fact that someone was calling her so late, Manny grumbled before getting out of bed to answer the phone.

"Hello, who is this?" Manny asked.

"It's me, David," The caller said.

At that, Manny rolled her eyes."I don't want to talk to you."

"Listen, before you hang up on me, I need you to do something,"he said.

"Fine, what do you need?" She sighed.

"I need you to come back to the office and help me find the designs you were sketching today."

"I left them on my desk. Didn't you find them there?"

"No, I didn't. I looked everywhere."

Manny swiveled her head to look at the clock on her side table. It read 9:00 p.m.

"Look it's already 9:00 p.m., how about I come into work early in the morning and look for them then?"

"No, you come here right now and help me find them, or you'll be fired!"He yelled then hung up the phone.

Manny didn't know what to do so she went back upstairs to her bedroom and changed her clothes. She put on a pair of jeans and a tank top, grabbed her keys, and left the house.

-::-

Craig was driving down the road when suddenly he stopped and parked his car. He climbed out, bottle of alcohol in hand, heading into a nearby cemetery. He kept walking until he stopped near the familiar tombstone and sat down on the ground.

"Hey baby, I miss you," he said."Look, I know I haven't been up here to see you in a while, but today would have been our second wedding anniversary."

Craig took another swig from the bottle of alcohol and continued drinking until he finished it he had finished, he threw the empty bottle on the ground and reached inside his pocket.

"I will never forget about you, Ashley," he cried. "I still kept the ring that I gave you when we got married." Opening the box, he reached inside and removed the ring, twirling it over and over between his fingers. "It's my fault, you're not here and I blame myself every day for I would've been paying better attention to the road, then that car wouldn't have hit me." He wept. "I am so sorry for costing you your life." The tears started to come down harder now, but Craig continued.

"Please, baby, forgive me for what I did," he begged. Then he sprawled out on the ground next to the tombstone and kept crying.

-::-

Meanwhile, in Toronto, Manny had just arrived to work in hopes of finding the missing sketches. The elevator doors opened, she stepped out of them, and proceeded down the hall past the myriad of office buildings on either side.

She kept walking until she saw a light turn on in one of her co-workers' she knocked on the door.

"Come in, the door's open," A male voice said.

Manny opened the door and went into the she saw David sitting on the ground looking at a pile of papers scattered in front of him.

"It took you a long time to get here," He complained.

"Because I had to drive here in the middle of the night," She retorted.

David simply waved her off. "Now that you're here, you can help me find the goddamn drawings."

"All right, where you want me to look first?" She asked.

"You can look over at my desk to see if they're there," He replied.

Manny went to his desk and search every inch of it in hopes of finding the drawings.A few beats later, David stood up from the floor, opened the door and went into another office to search some of the other desks.

After four hours of searching for the drawings Manny and David came up with nothing and David was starting to lose his patience.

"This is bullshit, we've been searching this place for already four hours and we haven't found shit!" He screeched. Manny tried to remain calm, but deep down she wanted to chide him for his childish behavior.

"Well, do you remember who had the drawings before you?" She asked.

"No I don't remember who had them first, if I did I would've called them instead of you!"_Forget trying to be calm,_Manny thought. She tried to maintain an even tone of voice, but she couldn't help the agitation that spilled out.

"Listen, I'm the one who's here tonight trying to help you find them, so you don't have to be a fucking asshole!"

"YES I DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE A FUCKING ASSHOLE BECAUSE I NEEDED THESE DRAWINGS TO SHOW TO THE BOSSES UPSTAIRS, SO THEY CAN APPROVE OUR FASHION SHOW IN NEW YORK CITY!"

"Well then maybe if we keep looking, we'll find them," She assured him before walking away. Manny went over to every desk, looked inside every cabinet, and scavenged through every drawer until she found some sketches.

"I think I found them," she said, removing the papers from a nearby cabinet.

David came out of the office and went over to Manny.

"Let me see what you find here." He took the papers Manny handed him and studied them carefully.

"NO, THESE ARE NOT THE RIGHT SKETCHES! THESE ARE FROM LAST YEAR'S FASHION SHOW!"

"How do you know they're from last year?"

"BECAUSE LAST YEAR'S DATE IS WRITTEN ON THEM!" Frustrated, David threw the papers on the floor and resumed looking.

"Maybe they're not in this office. Maybe you might have taken them home."

"NO, I NEVER TAKE MY WORK HOME! ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING RELATED TO MY JOB STAYS HERE! MAN, THIS IS SO FUCKED UP I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE SKETCHES ARE GONE!WHAT AM I GOING TO DO IF I CAN'T FIND THEM?!"

"I can make some new sketches," Manny suddenly offered in hopes of placating David's obvious outrage. Immediately he stopped searching for the sketchesand looked at her.

"Can you make them before the office meeting tomorrow?"

"Yes, I think I can."

"Great, well then you get started drawing some new sketches tonight."

"Tonight? I thought I could do it tomorrow when I come into work?" said Manny.

"Maybe I wasn't clear enough when I said that I'm having a meeting with my bosses tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m.! So I need you to make some new sketches tonight!" David yelled, still a little miffed, though not as angry as he was only a few moments prior.

"All right, fine, I'll make the damn sketches tonight, Manny conceded. She left his office and took a seat in one of the empty conference rooms across the hall. No one really used them, so they were _always_ available and _always_ found a stack of paper and a pencil, sunk back into her comfortable swivel chair, and started drawing. Then after a while had passed, Manny went back into David's office.

"Did you finish making the sketches?"

"I'm almost done, I just wanted you to see them," Manny said timidly placing her sketches on David's desk, fearful of his opinion. He studied them thoroughly, an unreadable expression on his face.

"These are amazing, in fact, they're better than the ones we lost," he finally said. You really have a creative eye for designing clothes. Just draw five more and you'll be good."David gave the sketches back to Manny and she left the office, determined to finish her remaining work before she went home. She grabbed more paper and a second pencil and sank back down in her chair.

-::-

Craig hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep until he felt a hand wrap around his shoulder, shaking him awake.

"Sir, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I just fell asleep, that's all," He answered, doing his best not to stumble as he stood up.

"If you need somewhere to stay, there's a shelter a couple blocks down the road, said the woman.

"Thanks for the tip, but I'm okay." He half-smiled watching her disappear into the night. Craig picked up the empty bottle of alcohol beside him, walked back to his car and hopped threw the bottle into the backseat before starting the engine and driving soon passed a hotel, deciding to stay there for the night.

Craig pulled into a parking space, cut the ignition, and got out of the he walked into the hotel approached the clerk standing at the counter.

"How may I help you?" The clerk asked him.

"Can I get a room for a night?"

"Yes, that will be $20.59."

Craig pulled out the money from his wallet and paid for the room.

"Enjoy your stay," the clerk told him, handing him a room key.

"Thanks," Craig said, taking it. He looked at the room number engraved into the shiny gold, whichread _921_, walked away, and then rode the elevator to the ninth floor. When he arrived at his destination, he stepped out, went to room 921 and slid the key inside the lock.

It was a small room, but Craig didn't care; he was so tired that all he wanted to do was go back to sleep. Immediately closing the behind him, Craig tossed his key onto the room's side table and lied down on the he closed his eyes, he began dreaming of Ashley. _Her face. Her smile.__The way she used to__kiss him, slowly and passionately._ But then Craig's dream abruptly ended and instantly turned into a nightmare. He saw a car rush toward them and then hit them from behind. That's whenCraig woke up and looked around, remembering that he was in the hotel room.

He got out of the bed, walked over to the phone and dialed anumber.

"Hello, how may I help you?" Said a male voice on the other line.

"Uh, yeah, can I get something to drink?" Craig asked.

"Of, course, sir. What would you like?"

"Bottle of vodka."

"Okay. Your bottle of vodka will be delivered shortly." The operator answered, before hanging up the phone.

"Thanks." Craig followed suit, placing the hotel phone back on its receiver. He sat down on the bed until his alcohol came.

After a short while, there was a knock on the door, so Craig got up to answer it.

"Here is your alcohol, sir. That will be $19.29, " The delivery man smiled. Craig paid the man for the alcohol, took his change, and then shut the door to his room. He uncapped the bottle of vodka and took a giant swig.

-::-

Manny applied one final pencil stroke to her masterpiece, yawning. It was now 2:32 a.m. and thankfully, she had just finished her last sketch for gathered her artwork, straightened out the office supplies she borrowed from the conference room and shut off the light, spinning onto her heel and down the hall toward David's office. He looked up when he saw her.

"Did you finish them?" He asked.

"Yes, I just did," She nodded, doing her best to conceal another yawn. Then she offered David her fine handiwork. David flipped through the stack of papers, paying extra attention to the last two. He smiled, looking pleased.

"Manny, you are the most beautiful person I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." He said.

"Yeah yeah yeah, you're only saying that because I finished the drawings," Manny waved him off. She really was in no mood to deal with David and his many conflicting personalities any longer. All she wanted was to go home.

"I promise I'll give you credit for drawing these again."

"Yeah, it'd be nice if you did that for me."

Manny failed to stifle a yawn and David saw that she was really tired. "I'm so sorry you had to stay here all night," He said sincerely.

Manny dismissed him a second time. "It's alright, I understand that you needed these drawings for your meeting tomorrow."

"At least let me take you home. You're probably way too tired to drive."

"No, it's alright, I can drive myself home."

"I don't want you to drive home and get into a car accident because you were too tired to drive." "Please let me drive you home." David insisted. Manny rolled her eyes.

"All right, fine, you can drive me home," She conceded.

A few moments later, David and Manny walked out of the building side-by-side and climbed into Manny's car. David turned the key in the ignition, exited the parking lot, and drove carefully down the street.

-::-

Back in the hotel room, Craig was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. He tried to settle his mind, but to no avail, and after a few beats, he stood up and exited the hotel and sauntered down the street until he saw a bar and went inside.

He took a seat at the counter when a waitress approached him.

"What can I get you?" She asked.

"Just a bottle of Jack Daniels," He said.

"Sure, coming right up, sir." She nodded, then disappeared somewhere behind the counter to prepare the drink. A few moments later, an attractive female stranger came and sat next to Craig.

"Nice place to listen to music." She said.

"Yeah, it's all right, if you like country songs." He shrugged.

"Well, what kind of music do you like listening to?"

"I enjoy rock music mostly."

"Yeah, rock singers are pretty sexy." The woman smiled with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She was about to say something else, but thankfully for Craig, the waitress returned and set a glass of Jack Daniels on the counter, before disappearing again.

Craig threw back a swig of his alcohol and then put his glass back on the counter.

"Do you live here or are you just visiting?" The flirty female stranger asked him.

"Just visiting." Craig replied.

She nodded. "You'll like it here. There's a lot good people in this town." _Pause._"My name is Michelle, by the way." she said.

"Craig." He answered her. "It's nice to meet you Michelle."Craig shook Michelle's hand. After she loosened her grip on him, he went back to sipping his Jack Daniels.

"Where did you come from before you ended up here?"

"I used to live in New York City."

"Really? I love New York! I've always wanted to live there, instead of this backwards day I will."

"That's awesome."

"So why did you leave New York City?" _Damn, this woman was certainly curious._

Craig drank some more alcohol and then decided to answer her."Because I wanted to experience someplace different," He Craig didn't condone lying, but he didn't want to tell her the real reason why he left New New York, Craig beat up a man who is now lying unconscious in a hospital bed. He was a wanted man. And wanted men were bound to get caught. _Especially when the police got involved._

-::-

Back in New York, the cops were looking into more of the details surrounding Craig's case and since his victim was still unconscious, they resorted to their next line of defense, the victim's family.

"Excuse me, Miss we need to ask you some questions," A policeman said, approaching Craig's victim's mother.

"Yes, you can ask me, I'm his mother," She replied.

"I need to know when you found out that your son had been taken to the hospital."

The woman nodded. "My daughter told me that her brother was in the hospital shortly after the incident happened."

"Have ever seen the guy who did this to your son?

"No, never in my life." Pause. "Are you going to find the man that hurt my son?" She asked.

"We are going to do everything we can to find him," The police officer answered her.

"Well good, because that man needs to pay for hurting my son," She sobbed.

The officer wrapped his arm around her shoulder comfortingly. "We completely understand, ma'am. And rest assured, we will do everything we can to bring your son's case to justice."

The woman then walked the policeman out, thanking him for all his service before returning to her son's room.

Meanwhile, the police officer walked through the hospital exit, got into his squad car and drove away.

-::-

David touched Manny on the arm in an attempt to wake her opened her eyes and swiveled her head around to look at him.

"We're at your house now, Manny." He said.

"Oh good, I can't wait to lie down in my bed and go to sleep." She opened the car door and carefully got out, with David trailing closely behind her. He followed Manny up the stairs to the front door of the house.

"Thanks for driving me home. I know that I was way too tired to drive back here myself."

"It's all right. I had to do something for the woman that re-drew all the sketches again for me," He said, handing her back her keys.

Manny opened the front door of her house and went inside, David still following her."Wow, this is an amazing place you got here," he said shutting the door.

"That's funny, I don't remember inviting you into my house."

"Oh, I thought maybe I should come in and make sure you're all right."

"Listen, David, I'm tired, not stupid."

"I thought maybe since I drove you home you could let me stay the night."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I don't have a car to drive back my office," He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

_Oh, right. Duh._ Manny walked away from him and retrieved her purse. She took out her wallet, removed a $20.00 dollar bill, and gave it to him.

"Here, take this," she said holding the money.

"Wait, why are you giving me money?" He asked.

"It's for your ride back to the said you didn't have a car to get back to the office, so I am giving you $20.00 dollarsso you can catch a cab back there."

"Uh, thanks… I think," he said taking the money out of her hand.

David then opened the door and walked out of her house. He waved down a cab, got into it, and gave the driver directions before he sped away.

Manny looked out the window, saw that David hailed a cab and then went over to her front door, locking it before she went upstairs.

-::-

Back at the bar Craig had a little too much to drink and was dancing with Michelle.

"You're a pretty good dancer." She chuckled.

"Well, I try my best." He hiccupped loudly in return. Michelle laughed again before closing the distance in between them.

"How about we go somewhere more private," She whispered huskily against his earlobe.

Craig knew what they were about to do was wrong, but decided against his better judgment. "All right, sure." he said.

Michelle then led Craig out of the bar, into the street, and back to her hotel room. She anxiously shut the door. She pressed their lips together, leading him over to the bed, eyes dark with lust. She traced the outline of his collarbone, all the way down to his chest and to his abs, before pushing him onto the bed, hard.

Michelle kept kissing him, unbuttoning his shirt in the process when suddenly Craig pulled away and stopped her.

"I'm sorry but I can't do this." he said.

"What? Why not?" She asked.

"Because I have a wife," He said.

"So what? It doesn't matter. She doesn't have to know." she said.

"No, I can't do this, " He said, pushing her hands away as he stood up from the bed. Michelle glanced back at him, both stunned and hurt. _She thought he really liked her._

"Look, you're a really nice woman, Michelle, but I'm just not available. I'm sure you'll find someone else who can be with you." Craig smoothed out the creases in his shirt and re-buttoned some of the buttons. He grabbed his leather jacket off the bed, exited the room, and kept walking until he saw that he was near his hotel room. Then he went inside.

-::-

At 9:51 the next morning, Manny was still lying in bed asleep, completely exhausted from her previous night's work. She shifts onto her side, burrowing herself a little deeper beneath her sheets when all of a sudden, her alarm clock goes off, alerting her of her need to wake up. Groaning, she turns it off, and angrily gets up against her will. Manny shuffles down the hall to her bathroom, stretches, and brushes her teeth, before she hops inside the shower.

Once she's finished, she steps out of the tub, and wraps her body in a soft towel. She returns to her bedroom and approaches her closet, pulling out a blue silk blouse and a short black skirt.

Manny surveys the floor for a pair of suitable shoes, deciding on her favorite pink high slides her feet into them, grabs her keys and then walks down the stairs and out the door.

-::-

In the morning, Craig wakes up in his hotel room with a killer headache. Memories of the previous night's events still fuzzy to him, he stumbles up from the floor, walks into the bathroom, and splashes cold water on his he crosses the threshold back into his hotel room, sits down on the bed and uses a towel to wrap his minutes later, Craig leaves the room and walks downstairs to the main office, where he talks to the clerk behind the counter.

"I'm here to pay for my one night at the hotel room,"

"All right, that will be $45.27."

Craig pays the man the money he owes him, before heading through the revolving door and to the parking lot. He hops inside his car and drives away from the hotel.

-::-

In his office building in Toronto, David is having a meeting with his bosses.

Meanwhile, one floor down, Christina, Alicia and Melissa are wondering what is going on in the soon joins them, also occupying a chair in the break room.

"What are you guys talking about?" Manny asks.

"Oh nothing, we're just wondering what David is discussing with his bosses," Alicia replies.

"He's probably just trying to get our fashion show approved," Christina interjects.

"I hope his bosses approve it, because I want to go to New York so bad!" Melissa exclaims. All of the women chuckle and nod their heads in agreement.

"Yeah, after all, New York is the place where fashion was born," Manny smiles.

After a while, the bosses and David are finished with their get off the elevator and shake David's hand before exiting the soon approaches the people that work for him.

"All right, listen, I have something important to tell you," he says.

"I had a long meeting with the head bosses of this company and they said that we can have our fashion in New York City."

Everybody in the room started cheering.

After they finished celebrating, David continued.

"All right, all right, settle down. Now the head bosses told me we can go to New York for our fashion show in four months, which means we have a bit of work to do before we go. Now I want Christina to start making the clothes for New York. I also want Alicia to help her out. Melissa, I want you to draw some sketches. And, Manny I want you to draw some sketches with her. Everybody get to work, we have four months before we go to New York City!"

David went back into his office and shut the door while everybody started working on whatever job they had to do.

-::-

A policeman knocks on the door of an unfamiliar house, when after a while the resident finally appears in the entryway.

"How may I help you?" A local known as Sean asks.

"Sorry to bother you so late in the afternoon, sir, but can you tell me how you know this man?" He said holding a picture of Craig.

Sean nodded. "Yes, I can, he's my friend. Is something wrong? What's happening?"

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Yes, of course." said Sean.

"Don't worry, your friend won't serve any jail time if the guy doesn't die and doesn't take him to jail. If you see him anywhere, just give me a call," said the police giving him a card.

"Thanks, I'll do that," Sean replied.

"The policeman stood up and left the apartment. When he was gone, Sean shut the door.

-::-

Craig pulled into a parking space, turned off his car, and got out of walked down the street until he reached the stairs of a familiar house and knocked on the door.

A person soon emerged and opened the door.

"Craig?" he said shocked.

"Hey Spinner," he said.

Spinner gave Craig a tight _"bro hug"_ and let him inside his place.

"So, how have you been doing?" Spinner asked, shutting the door.

"I'm doing the best I can," Craig answered.

"Oh yeah, I heard about what happened to Ashley.I'm sorry that she died, I know she was the love of your life,"

"Yeah, she was the only woman I ever loved. But enough about me, what's happening with you, Spin?" He asked.

"Things in my life are going great right now. Jane and I are about to have another baby," he said.

"Congratulations, that's great! So little Alice is going to have a brother or a sister."

"Yeah, although, we actually don't know what it's going to be yet."

"Where's Jane right now?"

"She took Alice to school this morning. So are going to tell me why you're back in Toronto?"

"I just came back to visit for a while, you know, see what's happening here."

"I understand that you came back to see how your friends are doing."

"Since I'm staying in town for a while, can I stay here until I leave Canada?"

"Yeah, sure, I don't think Jane will have a problem with it. You can sleep on the couch."

Spinner got up from his chair in the kitchen and grabbed his keys."Let's go hang out like we used to do," He said.

"All right, sure." Craig agreed, getting up from the and Craig left the house and walked over to Craig's car.

"What the hell is this?" Spinner shouted incredulously.

"This is my brand new car," Craig smiled.

"No, this isn't just a brand new car, it's a brand new sports car."

"Actually, it's not, it just looks like one."

"Who cares? This is the most beautiful car I've ever seen!"

Craig got into the car with Spinner soon following suit. He turned his keys in the ignition, carefully pulled out of his parking space, and drove down the street.

-::-

David exited his office and approached his co-workers."All right, everybody, it's time for lunch," He said.

Everyone in the office left and went downstairs to the cafe.

Manny surveyed the food table before deciding a piece of pizza along with a slice of chocolate cake. She also went into the refrigerator where they kept the soda and grabbed a Diet Coke.

When she was all settled, she found an empty table and sat down. She started eating her food when Christina pulled up a chair next to her.

"You'll never believe what I just heard from these two woman in the food line. David is sleeping with some woman that works in the building!"

"It's probably just a rumor," Manny brushed her off.

"No, I think it's true, they said she had long blonde hair,"

"Blonde hair? Are you sure that's what you heard?"

"Yes, I'm sure, that's what I heard."

Manny tried to hold back her tears because she didn't want Christina to see her cry.

After lunch was over, everybody returned to their Manny sat the table, absentmindedly tapping her pencil on the sheet of paper in front of her.

"I bet whoever the woman is that's going out with David probably doesn't have to work at all," said Alicia.

"Yeah. I bet she can come into work whatever time she wants," said Melissa.

"Well, I bet he gives her a raise for having sex with him," said Reese.

"That is one lucky woman," said John.

"Have you ever seen her, Christina?" Asked Mandy.

"No, but I've heard about her from the other girls that work on her she looks like a model, you know, blonde hair, blue eyes, big boobs, the whole works," said Christina.

"Manny, are you all right? You've been pretty quiet ever since you came back from lunch." Asked Ryan.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine, Ryan. Thanks for asking, said Manny.

Just then David came sauntering out of his office and over to the table where everybody was working.

"Since everybody is having a good time chatting away, I'd like to know how the sketches are turning out," said David.

"Here they are," said Alicia.

Alicia handed the sketches to David and he looked at them.

"Well, well, well, they're not bad. Good work. I want Manny and Melissa in my office now and I want you to bring your drawings, said David.

David put the sketches back on the table and headed toward his and Melissa both went after him and stood in front of his desk.

"Let me see the sketches that you've both drawn," said David.

Melissa handed the drawings to David.

"These are amazing! Wonderful job, you two!" he said.

"I only made three of them, Manny is the one responsible for sketching the rest," said Melissa.

"Manny, this is some of your finest work," said David.

"Thank you, sir," said Manny.

"I wanted to let you two know that these will be the kind of drawings we'll use for New York City fashion show," he said.

Melissa smiled proudly while Manny's expression remained stoic.

"Now for the best part, I want you to make some clothes out of these drawings. Here you go, get to work on sewing."

Melissa picked up the drawings from her boss's desk. Then she left the office, Manny in tow.

-::-

Craig and Spinner got out the car and headed into a strip they got settled down at a table, Spinner ordered them some beers.

"Why did you stop making music?" Asked Spinner.

"Because I couldn't see myself doing it time I went into the studio, I kept thinking about Ashley and day I'll go back for good, but not right now. I still need some time."

"I understand that," said Spinner.

Then the waitress came over with the two beers they'd ordered. She gently placed them on the table and walked away.

"I still have to ask you something, though. What about all those rumors I heard in the newspaper and on television about you cheating on Ashley?" he said.

"The press will do anything to get a story, everything they wrote is a damn ass lie.I never cheated on Ashley, she was the only woman I've ever loved," said Craig.

"Oh, I never believed any of they things they said, I was just curious."

"Good, because none of it was true." Craig seemed to get very defensive when mentioning anything about Ashley, so Spinner automatically changed the subject. They talked about sports, politics, and other everyday things grown men like to talk about.

-::-

Back in New York City, the man that Craig beat up regained consciousness and woke up. His eyes scanned the room as he sat up slowly, still in a tremendous amount of pain. The man was still not quite himself due to the many painkillers he'd been forced to take, but he recognized the police when they entered his room several beats later.

"Glad to see you awake for a change," one of the cops smiled good-naturedly.

"Yes, thank God my son alive," His mother agreed, wiping away some happy tears.

Of course, all the joy didn't last very long.

"I want you to find the man that did this to me, and I want him to go to jail for a long time."

"Sir, are you telling us to press charges against him?" He asked.

"Yes, I want that son of a bitch behind bars!" He shouted.

"All right, we'll do everything we can to find him and put him away for you," said the cop.

The police walked out of the room while Craig's victim continued to seethe with anger.

-::-

At 5:30 p.m. everybody leaves work, glad to finally be finished for the day.

Manny places the last of her drawings into her shoulder bag, prepared to leave the room when David snakes up behind her, rubbing her shoulder.

"You had a hard day, why don't you let me take you out tonight?" he said.

"Why would I do that? I heard you're going with some blonde on another floor of this building," said Manny.

"Pshh, bullshit. I'm not going with anybody on another only person I want to be with is you. _Only you._You shouldn't listen to anything these women say. "All they do is gossip." David said.

"You're right. And honestly? To know that you're not seeing anyone else right now is a huge relief. I feel much better.

"So how about that dinner, then?" said David.

"I don't know, I'll have to think about it," said Manny.

"Come on, please. It really is the least I can do."

"All right, fine, I'll go out to dinner with you,"

David grabbed his coat from the closet and slipped both of his arms inside it. Manny also grabbed her things before they left for dinner together.

-::-

A/N: Thanks to anyone who read this far. I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter, so maybe send me some feedback in a review? Can't wait to share the next part of this story with you ;)

Credit Goes To Lostinthemusicx11


	4. Chapter 4

It's 2 am in the morning when Spinner finally unlocks the door to his house and staggers into the room, drunk out of his mind with Craig under one arm who is obviously in a worse state than him. Spinner carried Craig to the couch and laid him down gently.

"Shh. Don't talk too loud, I don't want you to wake up my wife. She's already annoyed with me for going with you in the first place." said Spinner quietly, making sure that Craig was comfortable.

"Too late, I'm already up." Jane shouted, walking up the stairs to face Spinner.

"Oh... Uh.. Jane. I didn't know you were awake..." said Spinner sheepishly.

"Spin, you're drunk. I can smell the alcohol from here. I told you no drinking and driving, you could get yourself killed!" said Jane.

"I'm so sorry ba…..ba…..babe. I just wanted to go out today to have some fun with Craig, we don't see each other as often as we would like."

"Yeah I know all about you and Craig but I can't have you coming home drunk like this. It's dangerous to everyone." said Jane.

"I un…..un….under…..stand…..sweetheart."

"Listen don't blame Spin, it's not his fault. I'm the one who said we should go out and get drunk together. Blame me." Craig slurred, sitting up on the couch.

"Oh I already do blame you." Jane muttered. "Come on let's get you sober" said Jane, grabbing Spinner by the hand and pulling him upstairs into the bathroom. She threw him into the bathtub and turned on the cold water tap and connecting it to the Shower head, aiming it over Spinner's head.

The clock on the table started ringing, and kept ringing until Manny could be bothered to move her arm out of it's comfortable position on the bed. She turned it off and she turned back around in her bed, aiming to get comfortable again, until she saw a head sticking up from under the covers. _What the...?_ Manny grabbed the covers and pulled them off gently and saw that David lay in her bed, fast asleep. She slowly climbed out of out of the bed as to not wake David up and walked quietly into the bathroom and shut the door quietly behind her.

Craig lay asleep on the couch when Jane throws a freezing cold, wet towel over his his face.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelled at her, throwing the towel off his face and onto the floor. "WHAT YOU DO THAT FOR?!"

"I didn't know any other way to get you up." Jane said offhandedly, walking into the kitchen. Craig sat up on the couch and put his head into his hands.

"Ohh I have such a killer headache..." he muttered into his palms, massaging his forehead with his fingers.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't been drinking so much" shouted Jane, making Craig groan.

"Do you have Advil or Aspirin or something. Anything." asked Craig.

"I'll look and see what I can find," Jane said thoughtfully, pulling open cabinets and draws. She opened random tins in the hope that she would find something but to no avail. "I am _so_sorry, but I don't have any Advil or aspirin that you could have. You need to drag yourself to the shops if you want any." She said, leaning on the door frame.

"Damn. My head feels like it's going to explode." Craig whimpered, holding his head. After a while, Craig got up from the couch and left the house, in desperate need of painkillers, he walked down the street until he could find a store. Walking over to the cashier, he looked at the man and groaned. "Can I get an Advil please?" He asked, pathetically.

The man went over to where the Advil was kept and took it out of the case and laid it on the counter.

"That will be $2.98 please." said the man. Craig sighed but gave the money to the man and left the store, thanking whatever god there was out there for paracetamol and convenience stores.

David woke up slowly, turning around in the bed and went to wrap his arms around Manny, but meeting thin air when he realised Manny wasn't there. David's brain slowly caught up with him as he got up from the bed and walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Manny? Are you in there?" He called.

"Yeah, I'll be out of the bathroom in a minute. I just had a shower, that's all." she explained, getting out of the shower and grabbing the towel off of the rack. She wrapped herself up in it and opened the door to reveal David sitting on the bed, waiting for her to emerge from the bathroom.

"I love it when a woman cleans up after we just finished having sex." David smirked, taking in Manny's appearance.

"What happened yesterday wasn't supposed to happen," Manny said, frowning.

"From the look on your face last night, you sure looked like you wanted it." David said, gesturing as he spoke, making it obvious that he didn't care.

"I was drunk. I didn't know what I was doing," Manny explained, "People do things whilst drunk they don't mean to do."

"I think you wanted to have sex with me because deep down you miss me and my huge dick." David declared, getting up from the bed with a smug expression on his face.

"There is nothing on your body that I miss."

"We both know that isn't true. Now why don't we just say that we both wanted it to happen last night." said David. He walked over to her and put his arms around Manny's stomach. "You know you still want me. I can see it in your eyes, feel it in your pulse." he purred, kissing Manny's neck. She closed her eyes and found herself starting to enjoy the kisses he was peppering down her neck.

Reason started to kick in and Manny pushed him away. "No! Stop it!" She shouted, backing away from him. "I want you to leave my house right now." She commanded, walking over to the door and opening it up for him to walk through. David smirked as he walked over and stopped in front of her.

"I am not going anywhere, because I know you want me." David murmured, picking her up and carrying her back to the bed. He laid her down took off Manny's bathrobe. David started to kiss her stomach, and trailed kisses down her body until Manny started to moan and squirm.

Craig walked into a food store and sought out a refrigerator. He took out a bottle of still water and trailed over to the cashier to pay for the water and then left the store. He opened the bottle of pills and took two with the water, swallowing the pills whole. Craig got on a bus that drove to the other side of town that he knew far too well. He got off the bus, thanking the bus driver and walked up the street until he found the familiar building and knocked on the door. A woman came to the door and opened it up, looking astonished as she took in Craig's features.

"Craig! What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I was just visiting Toronto and I thought I'd come here to see you." Craig explained, smiling at Mrs Kerwin. "Uh.. Can I come in?"

"Yeah sure." Mrs. Kerwin let Craig pass into the corridor and she shut the door behind him. "Make yourself comfortable while I go into the kitchen for a minute." She said, walking away from him into the kitchen. Craig walked into the living room and sat on the couch, taking in his surroundings. He saw pictures of his wife, and bit back tears.

Manny and David lay naked on the floor, breathing heavily and sweating.

"Wow, that was amazing. I've never had sex like _that_ before." Manny panted.

"The guys you were with before me obviously didn't know how to have sex with you." David managed between breaths.

"You sure are great at what you do. Although I haven't decided whether it's fashion or fellatio yet."

"All I know is that my specialty is having awesome sex with my woman." David smiled at her, just before Manny heard her doorbell ring.

"Oh_ great._ Now I have to get up." Manny groaned as she got up from the floor. She grabbed her bathrobe and wrapped it around her body as she went downstairs. She opened the door carefully, starting when she realised that the woman stood there was her mother. "Mom? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I decide to come over and see how my daughter was doing." said Mrs. Santos.

"I am extremely glad you came over Mom, but this is really not at a good time right now." Protested Manny.

"Come on sweetie, it's never a bad time to have a visit from your Momma." she smiled, pushing past Manny and walked into the house. "It's really a lovely house that you have here Manny." she observed.

"Thanks Mom," Manny sighed as she shut the door.

Mrs Kerwin came back into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Craig.

"So, How has everything been with you? Asked Craig, smiling at Mrs Kerwin.

"I have been trying to take one day at a time to make sense of what happened with my daughter." Mrs Kerwin said sadly. "Some days are hard and some days are good." she said.

"I understand. I'm having the same problems dealing with losing her. Not a day goes past where I don't miss her."

"How are you dealing with the loss of your wife?" She asked.

"To tell you the truth I am not dealing with it too well. Every day I think about her or I go to sleep and dream about her."He confessed. "There is not one day where I don't wish that Ashley were still here with me. It's just so hard to keep living on without her." Craig said sadly.

"I know you're hurting Craig, but you have to keep living. You cannot think about killing yourself." Mrs. Kerwin replied, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I don't think I can keep going on without her." he said, breaking down into tears.

"Listen. Ashley wouldn't want you to give up and kill yourself now, would she? You have to remember that my daughter would want you to keep living without her." Mrs Kerwin said, wrapping an arm around Craig to comfort him. "You have to try your hardest to keep living on and have a life without her."

"Is that what you're doing?" He sobbed.

"Yes. I know that I miss my daughter like crazy, but I also know she wouldn't want me to die. Ashley would want me to keep living. That is what you have to do. Keep on living Craig." she said, moving her arm as he wiped the tears from his face.

"Thank you Mrs. Kerwin. That gives me hope." He said getting up from the couch. "I really think I should get going, he said.

"Alright, I understand. You are young and you've got things to do." She said, getting up off the couch and walked Craig walked over to the front door. Before he could leave however, Mrs. Kerwin pulled him into a hug.

"Take care of yourself and come back to see me again whenever you want."

"Don't worry, I will come see you again soon," Craig reassured her, pulling out of her embrace and opened the door. He walked out without another look back.

Mrs. Santos went into the kitchen and set her bag on the counter. "Honey I brought you some food to eat in case you haven't been shopping." She called.

"That's great Mom, but you really should have called instead of just popping by." Manny sighed.

"I'm sorry Manny, but I thought that you wouldn't mind me coming over without calling." Mrs. Santos frowned, taking out the food from the bag.

"I'm going upstairs a minute. I'll be right back" Manny said, turning away from her mother and walking upstairs. She walked into the bedroom and looked down at the man sprawled on the floor. "David you've got to leave now. My mother is downstairs." she said as David sat up on the floor and looked at her.

"It's alright. I'll just go downstairs and talk to your mother. It'll be fine." said David, getting up from the floor and walking over to his underwear had landed. He put them on and he put on his jeans that were close by. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and started to button it up.

"You go downstairs, I'll be down in a minute." Manny said as David opened the door and left the bedroom.

Mrs. Santos is put the food into the refrigerator when David comes downstairs, now fully dressed.

"Are you Manny's mother?" He asked.

"Yes I am. Who's asking?"

"Nice to meet you. I'm David, Manny's boyfriend." David said, extending his hand to shake.

"It's nice to finally meet you David." She smiled, shaking his hand.

"I'm so sorry that I wasn't at the dinner that night, I couldn't get away from my job."

"Oh I understand, don't worry about it," she said as David walked into the kitchen and helped take the food out of the bag.

"Here, let me help you with this." He said taking the food from her hand and placed it in the cupboard.

"Thank you."

"Why don't you go sit down and I'll put the food away?" David suggested, as Mrs. Santos went and sat down on the couch while David continued to put the food in the refrigerator.

Craig lay on the sand on the beach, looking at the water. He started to remember about his beloved Ashley. How she was scared of the water and how when he and Ashley went to beach together all she did was stay on the sand while he was swimming in the water. He got up from the sand and walked over to the water and stared at it. _I should of taught you how to swim_, he thought sadly. Craig then walked away from the water and grabbed his shoes from the sand and left the beach.

He kept walking until he saw the school that he and Ashley went to together when they were younger. Craig put on his shoes and walked up the stairs of the school to knock on the door. After a while, a woman came to the door and opened it up slowly.

"How may I help you?" She asked suspiciously.

"I used to go to this school when I was younger and I was wondering if I could see how my school looked now."

"It's not protocol, but alright you can come in," she said, looking around for anyone who could have saw her let him in. The lady opened the door and Craig walked into the building. He walked down to the gym room and stared at the stage upon which he first sang that song to Ashley.

Manny came out of the bedroom, dressed in a grey top and her blue jeans. She walked downstairs to be greeted by the sight of her mother smiling and talking to David.

"Oh, Manny, You're finally back." Her mother said, smiling at her.

"Yeah I had to put on some clothes." Manny said, exasperated. "What you guys are talking about?" she asked, sitting on the couch.

"I was just telling David about you when you were a little girl," she smirked.

"I loved hearing about your childhood." said David smugly as Mrs. Santos looked at her watch.

"It's getting late. I should really be going home." she said standing up from the couch.

"It was very nice to meet you Mrs. Santos," David said, smiling at her.

"Oh call me Julietta," she said walking over to the front door with Manny trailing behind her. Mrs. Santos hugged her daughter and smiled. "I'll see you later Manuellea." she said pulling away from her. She opened the door and left the house. Manny shut the door after her mother and walked back to the living room.

"What did my mother talked to you about?" She asked.

"I didn't know that when you little you ran around outside naked." David smirked.

"I told my Mom to never tell anybody that story!" she cried.

"She told me so much more than that." he chuckled, just as his cell phone started to ring. He fished it out from his pocket opened it up. "Hello? Yes I understand. I'll be there in a minute." he said. He hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket. "I have to go to the office because some of the girls can't decide what designers they should use for the fashion show." David sighed.

"Well I should go with you." she said.

"No, we can't go into the office at the same time. They might think we're dating. I'll go into the office now and you can come in later." he said, walking over to her and kissing Manny chastely on the lips. Then he went over to the door and opened it and left out the house.

Craig was standing thinking of Ashley when one of the teachers came into the room.

"Do you work here?" Asked the man curiously.

"No. I'm just an old class member from this school." said Craig, turning around to face Toby. "Hey Toby! I didn't know worked here."

"I become a teacher at this school in the end" Toby said, walking towards Craig.

"That's awesome."

"How have you been doing since the car accident?" Toby asked sympathetically.

"I'm taking one day at a time. It's hard but I am learning to deal with it." said Craig.

"I understand. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to teaching my class," said Toby, gesturing towards the door.

"I'll talk to you later then." said Craig hopefully, watching Toby leave the gym. Craig looked around the room one last time before walking out of the same door and left the school.

Spinner came upstairs and walked into the kitchen. He sat in the chair by the table and looked over at Jane. "What time is it?" He asked.

"12:40."

"Oh_ shit._ I missed a day of work!" exclaimed Spinner.

"Yeah, you did. That's because your ass was too damn hangover to get up for you to go to your job." Jane said, unsympatheticly.

"I never should of gone out drinking with Craig," he said, laying his head on the table and groaned.

"I know Craig lost his wife and everything, but how long is he going to be staying here?"

"I don't know. He didn't tell me.."

"I hope while your... friend is living in our house, he doesn't get you drunk every damn night." Jane said.

"Don't worry your pretty little face. I'm not going to get drunk again soon." he reassured her. "Where is Craig anyway?"

"He went out to get aspirin." Jane said as Spinner got up from the chair and laid down on the couch.

Craig opened the door to the shop and walked over to the counter. "Excuse me, but didn't this used to be The Dot restaurant? he asked the waitress.

"Yes, but that closed ages ago." she said.

"When did The Dot close exactly?" He asked.

"About four years ago," she said, sounding bored.

"Thanks for telling me."

"No problem." she said, walking over to a table. Craig went over to a table by the window and sat down in a chair. He picked up a paper he saw on the table and decided to read it, as he had been away for a while. When he opened it, he saw his picture in the newspaper. The article said that the police were looking for him because he tried to kill someone...

David helped the girls with the designs, showing them where they needed buttons and where things had to be sewn, Just as Manny comes into the building and sits down at her table.

"I didn't think you were coming to work." Alicia said, surprised by the sudden appearance of her co-worker.

"I have to come to work so I can help you guys with the fashion show."

"We've got the designs ready, now are we need is someone to sew the clothes, ready for the catwalk." said Mandy, gesturing to the designs that littered the table.

"Jordan knows how to sow, so I'll take the drawings to her. she said, grabbing the drawings and left the office and got into the elevator. When the doors closed, she pushed the button for floor 217 and the elevator started to move. When the elevator doors had opened to the right floor, Manny got out of the elevator and walked until she found Jordan's office. She opened the door and went into the room. "Jordan, I need you to sow these clothes for me." she said putting the drawings on the table so Jordan could look at that.

"When do you need them?" She asked.

"By next week."

"It's a stretch, I will have them ready by then." said Jordan confidently. Manny left the room and got into the elevator again and pushed the button for the elevator doors to close. When they opened back up, Manny got out of the elevator and went back into her office.

"I gave the drawings to Jordan, and she said that they will be finished by next week." Manny announced.

Everybody in the office worked their hardest that day, and at 6:00pm and it was time to go home. Everybody was leaving but Manny as she had decided to stay and wait for David.

Back in New York City the police were still searching for Craig. They end up going to his apartment that he used to live in and got the landlord to open the door to his old apartment so the police could go inside.

"You telling me miss that you haven't seen him in a year?" the DI asked, looking around.

"No I haven't. He never came out of this apartment anyway, he stayed in here all the time." she sighed.

"Did anybody visit him or anything?"

"No, not that I can think of." she said. The police looked at the studio on the table which was full of clutter, the bathroom that was tidy enough but lacked a toothbrush, the bedroom that was clean and in the closet. "What did he do wrong?" She asked.

"The man he put in the hospital wants him to go to jail, so we are looking for him so we can do just that." he said, just as the Sargent found something.

"Sir, I found this under the bed." he said coming out of the bedroom. "It looks like an old guitar pick."

"Oh yeah, I remember something now. The man that used to live here was a famous rock singer a long time ago. But I think something happened in his life and he gave up his music career." she said.

"Thanks for telling us miss" the DI said.

"No problem. If you need anything, I'll be downstairs." she said, walking away. The Sargent went into the cabinet drawers and saw a magazine with Craig on it. The article said that the rock star Craig won his first Grammy Award.

"Cole, come here for a minute." he said, as the DI walked into the Kitchen. "I remember him. He was the guy that lost his wife in that car accident about a month ago." said Cole.

"Oh yeah, I saw that on television." said Jackson.

"Maybe we shouldn't take him to jail... He's been through enough lately."

"We have to do our job. The man he hurt said he wants him to go to jail and means to press charges, and that's what we got to do, if we like it or not." said Jackson. The policemen left the apartment and went down the stairs and out of the building.

Craig laid the newspaper down on the table and walked out of the store. When he was outside, he stared to walk down the street and he took out his cell phone to dial a number.

Back in New York City, Sean was watching television when his cell phone starts to buzz in his pocket. He looks at the caller id and answers it. "Craig! Where the hell are you?" He asked.

"I can't tell you that right now, but I need to know something. Is the police looking for me?"

"Yes, they are looking for you"

"What did you tell them?" Craig demanded.

"I told them nothing, I swear!" he said. "They said they want to take you to jail for beating up some guy and putting him in the hospital. Now you tell me what the hell you did!"

"I got into a fight with some guy in the street, and I pushed him through a window and ran away." said Craig sadly.

"Oh my god. You didn't even think to check to see if he was alive?" He asked.

"No, why I would do that? I don't want to go to jail." said Craig.

"Why would you get into a fight with someone? You haven't been taking your medicine have you?" Sean asked.

"No I haven't been taking it, but that's not the point." said Craig. "I need you to find someone for me."

"Sure, who is it?" He sighed.

"It's a woman named Diane Jones. I need you to found out where she is."

"Diane Jones... that sounds familiar." said Sean.

"Do you know her?" Asked Craig desperately.

"No, I don't think I do but Ellie might know that name because there was a woman who worked with Ellie at her job who had the exact same name." said Sean.

"Alright. Good. So ask Ellie and see if she knows her." Craig hung up and put the phone back into his pocket.

David came out of his office and saw Manny standing there waiting for him.

"Why you still here?" he asked.

"I thought maybe me and you could leave here together," she said.

"Sure. I have no problem with that." he said as he grabbed his case.

"My bosses want me to go to a fashion designer party tonight. You can come if you want to" David suggested.

"Sure, I would love to come!" Manny smiled as they left the building together. They got into David's car and he drove down the street. When he got to Manny's house, he stopped his car and smiled at Manny.

"So, you going to get ready and come to my party tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure. I wouldn't miss it for the world." she said.

"Alright. The party starts at 7:30pm" he said.

"I'll be there," said Manny, leaning over to kiss David on the lips and got out of the car. She walked up the stairs and went into her house while David drove away. As soon as the door closed, Manny jumped up and down screaming "I can't believe I am going to my first fashion party!" and then ran upstairs to find something to wear.

Ellie turned the key in the lock and opened the door to her house. She put the keys on the table and takes off her shoes before sitting down on the couch. Just as she sits down, there is a knock on the door. "Son of a bitch... Just when I started to relax too." she grumbled, getting up off the couch. She opened the door and saw Sean standing there.

"Ellie I need your help" he said.

"With what?" She asked.

"With Craig. He's in trouble."

"What's new? Craig is always in trouble. Look, Come in and tell me what trouble he's got himself into." she said. Sean went into her place and she shut the door behind him before joining him on her couch.

"This is a big kind of trouble he's in." he said.

"What he do this time?" Ellie sighed.

"Craig might be going to jail for hurting a man." said Sean.

"Oh My God." She breathed.

"Yes. See, this is some serious shit so I need you to help me." he said.

"What can I do?"

"You can tell me if you know a girl at your job named Diane Jones." he said.

"I think I knew someone who worked at my job named Diane Jones, but she quit last month." she said.

"Do you know why she quit?" He asked.

"I think she said it had to do with her moving out of New York, and that she was going to live somewhere in California." said Ellie.

"What part of California is she living in?"

"I think I have a letter or something she sent to me after she moved out of New York," she said getting up from the couch and went over to her computer table. She looked through all the papers on the table until she found a piece of paper. "I've found it," she said holding it up. Sean got up from the couch and went over to Ellie. "This is the letter Diane sent me last week. It says that Diane is living in California with her grandmother."

"Do you know what part of California her grandmother lives in?" he asked.

"I think she lives in San Francisco." she said. "I'm sorry I can't tell you any more."

"Can I take the letter with me?"

"Yeah sure no problem. Oh, I remember one thing people talked about when we worked together." said Ellie. "They always said that Diane's husband used to beat her all the time and that she should leave him. That's what they said at the magazine company anyway." said Ellie.

"Oh, thank you Ellie!" Sean exclaimed, grabbing Ellie and kissing her on the mouth. He then opened the door and left the house, before getting into his car and driving away, leaving Ellie in a confused state in her living room.

Manny looks at herself in the mirror. She is wearing a black short dress which reveals her legs and quite a bit of cleavage. She is wearing high heeled black shoes and her hair has been straightened so it sits straight down on her back. She grabbed her bag and walked downstairs, leaving the house got into her car to drive to the party.

Craig opened the door into Jane and Spinner's house and walked over to the refrigerator. He grabbed a beer and sat down in a chair in the kitchen. Spinner came downstairs wearing a suit and nodded his head to Craig in recognition.

"What the hell are you all dressed up for?" Craig asked, drinking his beer.

"They're having a party tonight at my job," said Spinner.

"It must be some kind of fancy party to get you to dress up." said Craig.

"You need to slow down on the drinking. Jane doesn't like it." said Spinner, totally ignoring his last comment.

"Well is Jane here right now?"

"No. She went out to buy some food." said Spinner.

"Since she's not here, I can drink." he said. "When she comes back, I will stop drinking." Craig said, drinking his beer.

"Alright! Fine, do it your way, but don't let her catch you drinking here."said Spinner.

"Don't worry, I won't."

"You want to come with me to the party?" Asked Spinner.

"No thanks, I'll stay here." said Craig.

"Aww, come on. You might like it." said Spinner.

"I don't think so. If I wanted to see famous people, I'd would of stayed in California."

"There might be some sexy ass ladies there that you can hook up with."

"I don't want to hook up with anybody Spin. I am still thinking about my wife." said Craig.

"Oh god, I'm sorry man. I forgot" said Spinner.

"It's alright."

"But you should get out of this house and have some fun." Spinner sighed. "I promise if you go with me and you don't like it I will drive you back to my house."

"Alright. Fine, I will go to check out this party thing." Craig finished drinking his beer and threw the beer can in the bin. He walked over to where his jacket was scrumped on the couch, picked it up and put on his jacket.

"I think you going to enjoy yourself Craig." said Spinner, opening the door and they left the house. They got into his car and drove down the street.

Anybody that is anybody in the fashion industry is at the party. Manny pulls her car up in front of the building and gets out of it spotting a chauffeur walking towards her.

"Want me to park your car miss?" He asked.

"Yes, that would be great." said Manny happily. She gave the keys to the man who got into her car and drove it somewhere to park it. Manny walks into the building and looks around. It's massive inside, with a large area to socialize with a run away at the back. She also sees that nearly every famous celebrity that have made clothes in Canada and New York City were here. She saw the famous designer that made clothes in New York City that Manny loves to wear and walked towards him to talk. "Excuse me, but I'm your biggest fan," said Manny nervously. "I have all of your ranges in clothes and I adored your shoes."

"Thank you. What's your name?" he asked.

"Manny Santos, I'm a fashion designers for a Toronto Company called New and Blue designers. It's just started up, but we're really making a name for ourselves." She said.

"Maybe one day you will strike fame, like I did with my Gucci designs." he smiled. "Excuse me Manny, but I have to go talk to someone else." The famous designer walked away, and went to talk to another famous designer who he was working with for the next walked into the building with his black suit and black tie on, and he walked over to where he saw Manny was sat.

"I'm glad you could come." he purred into her ear.

"I couldn't miss it" she said. David looked down at the dresses that Manny were wearing.

"Wow, you look sexy tonight." he said appreciatively.

"Thank you," she smiled. David then lent towards her and put his mouth by her ear.

"If we weren't at this party right now, I would have sex with you." he whispered. Manny started smirking, Just as a man came over to them.

"Excuse me sir, but the bosses over there are from New York City. They want to talk to you." He said, glancing at Manny apologetically.

"I have to go to talk to them for a minute, but I will be back." David told Manny, getting up from his seat.

"Alright. It's fine, I understand." said Manny. David kissed her and then walked away from her to go to the other side of the room.

Spinner pulled into a gas station and stopped the car.

"Why have we stopped here?" Craig asked.

"Because I have to get gas for my car, then after that I will drive to the party," said Spinner, walking into the Gas Station. He walked over to the refrigerator and takes out a bottle of beer for Craig. Letting the door slide shut, he walks over to the counter and put the beer on the table. "Can I have $20.00 dollars on pump number 12 please?" he asked, handing over the money for the gas and then paying an extra $6.89 dollars for the beer. Before he can walk out of the door, he spots a newspaper that has Craig's picture on the front cover. He opens the newspaper to see that Craig is wanted for brawling and that the man he pushed through the window wants to see him go to jail. Spinner found himself staring at the newspaper article, shocked at what he was reading.

"Are you going to buy the newspaper?" Asked the man at the Cashier.

"No, I'll was just looking that's all." said Spinner, putting the newspaper down, laying it back on the rack with the other newspapers. He then grabbed the beer and left the store to walk back over to his car. Spinner knocked on the window and Craig wound the window down. "Hey. I brought you back a beer," he said handing him the bottle.

"Thanks man." said Craig taking the alcohol. Spinner went over to the gas pump and filled up the gas tank in the car, while Craig opened his beer and started to drink it. After the pump made a clicking sound, Spinner took the gas pump out of his car put it back in the gas station pump. He then went over to his car and got into it.

"Finished filling up your car?" Craig asked impatiently.

"Yes. Now we can go to the party." Spinner sighed, turning on the car and pulled out of the gas station and drove down the street.

Manny as at a table drinking red wine when a guy sat down next to her.

"Are you Manny Santos?" He asked.

"Yes I am, although I can't remember who you are," she said.

"I am the guy who gave you the job that got your career started. I was the one who said that I could see you going far with you designs." he said.

"Oh yeah! I remember you, You were the one that recommend that I should work for David." said Manny.

"How has everything been going for you?" He asked.

"Things are great. I'm designing and making the clothes I always wanted, she said. "How are you doing with things in life?" She asked.

"I have own design company now." he said.

"What is it called?" She asked.

"Cherish Designers. What are you designing nowadays?"

"We make everything from young girls to old woman clothes and evening wear to baby clothes" said Manny

"The company you working with has been selected to go New York City, hasn't it?"

"Yes, we're going to NYC for our first fashion line." Manny smiled.

"Do you have everything ready for New York because they have fiery competition there." he warned.

"We're trying our best to get everything ready in time."

"If you need some help with your designs Manny, I could help you."

"It would be nice if you can, I think I need some help with some of my stitches." she said.

David talked to the bosses from the New York when he glanced over and saw Manny laughing and talking to another man. He scowled, and started to try to quell his anger.

Spinner looked around until he found a parking spot and parked his car. "We're here." said Spinner.

"Finally. It took long enough" Craig complained. Spinner and Craig both got out of the car together and shut the doors. They walked over to the building and before they could get into the party a man stood in their way, stopping them from entering.

"You can't go in here without an invitation." said the man.

"I was invited here." Spinner argued.

"Yeah, okay. If you were invited here, where is your invitation?" asked the man. Spinner went into his suit pocket and looked for the invitation. When he found it, he pulled it out to show it to the bouncer.

"You're alright. Go on into the fashion industry celebratory party." said the man, moving aside so they could go into the building.

"Thank you sir." said Spinner taking his invitation back and putting it into his pocket. Spinner and Craig went into the building.

"You didn't tell me this was some fashion show." said Craig.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to bring that up."

"Aww, man! Come on, I hate fashion shows. I didn't watch them when my wife was alive and now you've taken me to one." said Craig.

"It's not really a fashion show, it's just a party." said Spinner.

"Yeah, alright. But if they start modeling clothes on a runaway I am leaving." Craig warned him. Spinner went over to a closed door and opened it up for Craig and him to walk in through. Craig looked around and saw that it looked just like a normal party, the only difference was that there was a runaway in the back of the room. Craig went over to the opened bar and sat down on a bar stool.

"How may I help you tonight?" Asked the bartender.

"Can I get a class of Jack Daniels please?" he said.

"Sure coming right up" said the bartender.

Manny laughed at what her old boss were saying to her. "You're so funny, Mr. Chandler" Manny chuckled.

"Don't call me Chandler, I'm not your boss anymore." Said Chandler. "Call me Ryan." he smiled.

"Alright, sure thing Ryan." Manny said as David stormed over to the table where Manny was sat talking to Ryan.

"How are you doing over here Manny?" He asked.

"I'm fine David, thanks for asking." said Manny.

"I see you found a friend to talk to."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ryan Chandler, I used to be Manny's old boss." he said.

Yeah I heard about you didn't your fashion company go out of business, said David.

_"David"_ Manny warned him.

"No, it's alright." Ryan said, touching her arm. "Yes, my company did go out of business three years ago. Just because my fashion company couldn't make it doesn't mean I still don't get great ideas."

"Your ideas must not been that great because they didn't kept your company going." said David.

"David, What you're saying isn't good..." Manny muttered.

"Yes it is because he's a loser wanting to still be in the fashion industry." said David. "You have nothing to tell my worker as she works for me now, not you." said David, turning to Manny. "Come on, let's go." he said, grabbing her hand and pulled her away from the table.

Spinner walked over to the bar where Craig is sat drinking his Jack Daniels. "I see you're having an amazing time here." said Craig sullenly.

"Yeah, I've never been to one of these things before." said Spinner.

"I've been to these a million times and it's always same thing." said Craig. "You see famous people get drunk off their ass and end up going home with some man or woman they've never met before tonight."

"Everything you just said sounds pretty damn amazing to me."

"After a while it gets boring." said Craig, as a woman comes over to them.

"Excuse me, but are you a singer?" She asked curiously.

"Maybe."

"Because my friend and I thought we've seen you in a music video before." said the woman.

"I have been in a couple of music videos in my life." said Spinner, watching as the woman started to smile.

"So my friend was right. Maybe you could come over to our table and tell us about your singing career?"

"Sure, no problem." said Spinner smiled went over to the woman's table with her. Craig shook his head and went back to drinking his alcohol.

David opened a door and pushed Manny into a small room.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Manny asked furiously.

"Nothing's wrong with me, you're the one who's acting like a whore!" David argued.

"I was just talking to my old boss!"

"Yeah right! It looked like you were going to take him to bed!" David accused.

"Fuck you for even thinking that low of me."

"What am I supposed to think when you're over there laughing with your old boss?!"

"I was just talking to him about old times!"

"Manny, I don't want you talking to him anymore! You are **my** girlfriend and I don't want you talking to that man." David said, glaring at Manny.

"I'm not your dog! You can't tell me what to do!" Manny said, walking over to the door when David stopped her. He grabbed Manny by her arms and slapped her hard across the face. David pushed her on the ground, rendering Manny helpless.

"Since you're not going to listen to me, I'm going to teach you how to listen." said David. Manny started crawling to the door before David grabbed her by the hair and threw her against the wall, punching her in the stomach.

Craig is still drinking when a woman comes over to where he is sat and sits down in a stool next to him. "Great party they're having here." said the woman.

"It's alright if you like parties." said Craig somberly.

"What's your name?" asked the woman.

"Craig."

"I'm Alyssa."

"Nice to meet you Alyssa." said Craig, shaking the woman's hand and then returned to drinking his alcohol.

"I'm sorry, but you look like some famous singer I once saw on television," she said.

"Yeah I get that a lot from women."

"Maybe when this party is over, me and you can hook up?" she said. Craig finished drinking his alcohol and got up from the stool.

"You seem like a really nice woman, but I'm sorry I don't want to be with you." said Craig who then walked away from the woman.

David comes out of the small room and straightened up his tie before walking over to the bosses from New York. In the room that David had just left, Manny lay on the floor with her face bruised, with various cuts. She doesn't move.

* * *

Read and Review

Thanks to anyone who read this far. I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter, so maybe send me some feedback in a review? Can't wait to share the next part of this story with you ;)


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